Görres’ perception of democracy was
influenced by an idea of polarity. It
means the relation between two contrary, interacting and interdependent
powers or entities. Görres who lectured physics in his youth knew that
the existence of poles was necessary
to release useful powers. He wanted
to merge these different powers leading not to destruction but to the
creation of kinetic energy. Due to
this ideology he referred to the
different concepts of his time: the
logical reasoning of enlightenment,
the enthusiasm of romanticism, the
religious heritage and freedom of
belief, the Reformation and Catholicism, the social contract and the
republic of people, the Christian
community and the national group
membership, the community of citizens and feudalism, young and old
people, theology and modern science,
the hope for unity and loyalty to
the royal house. The fact that
Görres accepted all of these aspects – as long as they were non-violent and humane – shows his
deep democratic awareness. The
idea of the antagonism of forces
could be born out of his interest
in the Asian cultural area. Based
on the highest principle of the
cosmos (Tai Chi) ultimately all
things of the world are arranged
in harmony as long as the seeming
opposites derive from the same
origin.